Weihnacten Fotographie
by chrnoskitty
Summary: An invitation, An invitation is all it takes, and that invitation may create the best memories of your life. DarkKrad Christmas Story
1. A Meeting

Weihnachten Fotographie

_"A photograph is nothing but a memory frozen in time."_

The holiday season was here again, Dark sighed, he definitley hated this time of year. Apart from the stores raising their prices, the 'festivities' being pushed upon by the retailers as early as the middle of October, and the sub-zero temperatures, Dark hated the holiday season for one reason in particular: His family.

They were by no means the 'perfect' family, in fact-a perfect family in this day and age is almost as farfetched a story as humans sprouting wings and flying. His father had deserted them years ago, they hadn't even bothered checking if he was still alive or not, and his mother worked three regular jobs and whatever odd ones she could find to pay the mortgage and keep their minimalistic food on the table. Which meant it was his responsiblity to get employed and earn his own money if he wanted any luxuries, like newer clothes.

So, it seemed, as usual, he would have to brave the over-commercialized holiday industry to buy his mother a christmas gift.

* * *

Softly cursing the holiday under his breath, he'd only been in the plaza not even twenty minutes and had been trampled by the psychotic holiday-goers no less than thirty times. He eyed the menangarie of shops, mentally noting the ones that the crowds flocked to, generally avoided, and the ones that they cast wistful glances at.

Just as he was about to enter one of the shops, he heard a cry.

"Stop! Theif!", That cry belonged to some pudgy red-faced baker that was chasing something, or someone, that was running too fast for his mind to fully comprehend.

That blur swiftly ran in front of the amethyst-eyed teen, still too fast for Dark to make out any features other than the fact that it was human and supposedly around his height. He would have just gone on with his buisiness and forgot the whole ordeal had it not been for the fact that the fat chef pushed him roughly to the side in his awkward stagger that was supposedly a run, but Dark(nor any of the bystanders) could really be sure.

So, seeing as his plans of pretending the whole ordeal had never happened had been trampled on-literally, Dark jumped up and ran after, not the baker-he could have easily walked behind that fatty and caught up, but ran after the 'figure' that the obese baker was after.

* * *

Welcome to my Christmas fic! Hopefully it'll be finished by christmas-Review please if you want to know the rest! 


	2. An invitation

Weihnachten Fotographie

_"A photograph is nothing but a memory frozen in time."_

_Chapter 2_

About three minutes into their chase, the baker was panting rather heavily and was leaning on the wall of the building as though it were an attachment of himself. Dark 'accidentally' kicked him, sending him spiraling into the ground for his afternoon snack of unpaved dirt. _Teach him to not apologize,_Dark thought as he continued running after the 'blur'- if he caught it perhaps that tub of lard (The baker) would reward him with a cash prize; He could definitley use a few extra dollars.

It wasn't hard for someone of Dark's stamina to catch up with the 'theif'. Unfortunatley, he wasn't looking where he was going and ended up stumbling over a quite accuratley placed rock jutting up from the middle of the unpaved dirt road; And so, to stop himself from eneding up as an undignified heap in the middle of the christmas shopping goers(Most of whom who were blatantly ignoring the chase, others were watching with a detached sort of interest.) The amethyst-eyed teen grabbed the first thing he could. The theifs' collar, wich ended up in him being an undignified heap in the middle of the christmas-goers with another person on top of him; Causing those christmas-goers to laugh quietly and glance his way every now and then.

Dark could feel his cheeks grow hot at this, he may not be from a wealthy family but he sure did have his pride. And all these laughing bystanders certainly were an insult to it. The 'blur' got off of him, and was about to resume running with the 'suspicious package' still cradled to his chest when Dark grabbed hold of his arm, causing him to whirl around and glare.

Dark was taken aback for a moment by the teen's inhuman golden eyes, and was considering releasing him for a moment, but only for a moment. That was, until he realized that the bundle that the blonde was still cradling to him was more than likely the pilfered item that the tub-of-lard-who-shouldn't-spend-as-much-time-eating-his-confections-as-he-does-making-them baker was so uptight about losing. "What have you got there?", He ground out, referring to the bundle.

The blonde's eyes widened at this, "N-N-Nothing.", He stuttered.

Dark's brows furrowed at this, "Then let me see."

A sigh, and the bundle was handed over with shaking hands.

Dark accepted it and unwrapped, and unsurprisingly it had a loaf and a half of smushed bread, he poked at it; It was hard-It had to be at least two days old, _This is what that baker was so upset about losing? By law it should have been tossed out a day ago...So much for his -supposed- reward money_, The violet-haired teen found himself thinking.

Handing the bread back to the blonde teen, Dark finally noticed the full appearance of him; Blonde with gold eyes, About his own height, but a couple inches shorter and his clothes...A pair of jeans that had definitley seen better days and a white(Slightly gray) tee-shirt that was thread bare in places and a few dirt smudges on his face-All in all, Dark probably lived like a king compared to this guy, going by looks.

Acting on impulse, Dark asked, "Hey, you, What's your name?"

That earned him an indignant glare, "And why should I tell you?", The blonde spat, why should he trust him? For all he knew he wanted his name for a wanted poster.

"I guess you really shouldn't; After all, I was chasing you.", Dark sighed, " But, anyways, I'm Dark Mousy."

Not one to ignore the rules of polite coversation, the blonde was now obliged to give his name to this 'Dark' fellow, "Krad Hikari. Happy? Now...Can I get going.", He was quite irritated by this point.

"You could...But I don't want you to. Wanna help me with my Christmas Shopping?"


	3. An acceptance And an Invitation

Weihnachten Fotographie

_"A photograph is nothing but a memory frozen in time."_

_Chapter 3_

* * *

Golden eyes widened slightly at thisthis guy . . . _Dark_ . . . Was asking him, basically a complete stranger, and probably not one with a clean track record in the amethyst-eyed boys' mind, to help with the Christmas shopping?.!

Nodding rather dimwittedly, The blonde agreed-without any knowledge of why he did so; To get warm, a part of his mind supplied him with that reasoning later, as he shivered-finally realizing the cold, after all it was winter, and there was snow on the ground . . . which meant it was below freezing point . . . and yeah.

Dark smiled at the blondes actions; From where he was standing it seemed that he was having some sort of internal battle/conversation with himself. And that smile only grew bigger when the blonde nodded at him, apparently he had won the blonde over.

And so, that was what had led them to go browsing in the shops.

* * *

"Uhhh...Mister Dark...What exactly are we searching for?", Krad asked after at least twenty minutes of doing nothing in particular, and he was getting rather odd looks that were making him feel hot around the collar-And it wasn't the kind of heat that he wanted to be feeling, but nonetheless he was grateful for being in the warm stores with a purpose; Even if he would have to brave the cold again sooner or later, at the moment he really hoped that was later.

"...We're looking for a gift for my kaa-san.", Dark said, looking up at the blonde from behind a row of books.

"What does she like . . . ?", The blonde asked, if he didn't start looking around seriously soon, no doubt the store owner would come over and politely ask him to leave, and then when he didn't comply(as he was wont to do) she'd call security, and they would 'kindly' escort him out.

"Anything random, as long as its not too feminine or cheap-looking.", Dark replied, now heading towards the exit, "C'mon Krad, there's really nothing that she'd like in here...Off to the next store.", He said, and the blonde followed.

And so went a good five hours of their day, who had known that the town palza had so many places to search.

Dark actually found something in the last store; A cookbook. A rather boring and dull and stereotypical mother gift, yet a gift nonetheless. And besides, it wasn't your average cookbook, it was a cookbook containing relatively fancy recipes that were actually rather cheap and could be made for under five dollars, a rather practical gift, Seeing as Dark himself was forever forbidden from trying to use the kitchen.

And so, Dark would be on his way to his run-down-apartment-at-a-rather-high-price of a home, and Krad would . . . probably wander around.

"Ummm...Well, bye Mister Dark... I guess I'll be going now..."

The violet-haired teen looked at him incredulousley, "And where will you be going?"

"...Err...Home?", The blonde said, but the timid tone turned it to more of a question.

"And where would that be?", Dark asked, having already a pretty good guess on what the answer would be.

"Ahhh...Nowhere special, sir...", Aha! Dark knew it! For once in his life the over-hyper-active teen had formed a correct hypothesis! And then for a moment wondered why he was talking in scientific terms.

"Is that so . . . ", Dark asked, well, not really so much asked as stated sarcastically, "Then it's decided, you'll come home with me!"

The blonde didn't know whether or not to be appalled or immensely relieved by that, so he just stared at the violet-haired teen dumbfoundedly.

* * *

CK: This chappie was fun to write!

**Reviewer replies:**

**neko-nya**  
I'm glad you like it...And yeah, it is a little cold ;

**genkai1314**  
I really don't think you've reviewed before, have you? And I'm glad you like my stories, and I like yours!

**Hakudoshi-chan**  
Thanks!

**Kyuseisha no Hikari**  
You are taking a little bit longer to write..Do you have block? And look! I spelt it right! Well, actually, I copy and pasted it but shhhhhhh! It's a secret. And how's this for another quick update?


	4. Another meeting

Weihnachten Fotographie

_"A photograph is nothing but a memory frozen in time."_

_Chapter 4_

_

* * *

_

Krad had come to the conclusion that Dark was utterly out of his mind; Sure, he didn't look the best of sorts, and probably didn't act it either, but in this time and age you didn't just invite some random person into your home(Or to go shopping with you either, for that matter.)

"W-What!.?"

"You'll be coming home with me, isn't that clear enough? 'Casue I'd really hate to have to spell it out for you...My spelling sucks."

"B-But! You don't know if I'm some insane rapist or a pickpocket!", The blonde protested.

Dark chuckled at this, "I had you with me all day, and I still have my wallet and innocence. I highly doubt that you'd stay with me all day and not do either _if _you were."

Krad sighed, "I guess, you win."

"Yay!"

Dark beamed as he took the slightly shorter blonde's arm, and dragged him to his home/residence/place-where-you-live-kinda-thingy.

* * *

"My mom'll be back later, and then we'll see if you can stay for sure or not!", Dark said, handing him some clothes and ushering him towards the bathroom. 

"Umm...Thanks...?" Krad had the sudden mental image of him as a dog and Dark some kid begging his 'mommy' to to let him keep it; he shuddered at that though-he really hoped that _that _wasn't what Dark's plan of action was. That would be rather degrading; To the both of them.

--

After his shower, Krad proceeded in putting the clothes on that had been offered to him by Dark, only to come to the conclusion that he was by far skinnier than Dark, and at least three inches shorter-as he tripped on the pant legs twice and they fabric bagged in odd places.

Re-entering the living room/ entrance, Krad was attacked by a young-looking woman squealing "Awwww! Cute!", who he was sure was trying to take the life out him by hugging him so hard...And then his mind kind of blacked out.

When he came to it was to the sight of that brown-haired woman hovering above him.

"Oh, good. You're awake...I'm sorry about earlier.", She said, reaching to remove the cloth on his forehead. He simply nodded back at her, not really in the mood to talk, especially with some super hyper lady who almost hugged him to death. Replacing the cloth with a warmer one, she decided to start up some conversation.

"Why, hello Krad-don't worry about how I know your name, my son told me. I'm Emiko, by the way...", Whatever she said after that was lost on the blonde as he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Ck: Well, that was kinda horrible...I'm sorry! I think I have Block now...TT 

Reviewer Replies:

**Sadey-and-Aiden:**  
How's this for soon? And now, what scientific terms...I'm sorry if I've caused you brain damage! Forgive me! Perhaps I should have put "Rots your brain" as a warning...And I think Krad has a "good" It's just been distorted and whatnot alot...

**Hakudoshi-chan:**  
Glad you like! I'd be scared of Dark if I was Krad...

**neko-nya:**  
They ARE allowed to do that, it's called 'loitering' and they can call the police on you...

**Kyuseisha no Hikari:**  
I hope I've made your day again, Thanks for updating your fics! You made my day!Mmmm, an X-mas theme from you, yet another best-selling book fromKyu! I'll read!'Literature'!./dies/ That's the first time anyone said that, and go ahead and write them, I'd be more than ecstatic if you did so XD!I hope I have more curiousity for you...And don't worry, I'm planning another chapter for this week/weekend XD.


	5. A question

Weihnachten Fotographie

_"A photograph is nothing but a memory frozen in time."_

Chapter 5

_------------------------------------------------------------_

When Krad awoke again the house was pitch-black, leading him to the conclusion that night had settled on them.

Stumbling out of bed he made his way to what he hoped was the kitchen, he was rather hungry-and if he got in troubled he'd just apoligize alot or leave, whatever the situation called for.

See, He had it all planned out, what he hadn't planned on was seeing Dark and ... Emiko, right? sprawled out on the kitchen floor engaged in a rather listless game of Uno, with a flickering candle on the table as the only source of light.

"Umm...hi?", He asked, unsure if his intrusion upon what he assumed to be a family thing would be welcomed or not.

Dark glanced at him for a moment before returning his attention to his hand of well-worn cards, grumbling as he drew another. Emiko warmly smiled at hin, and he had half a mind to run for it-It was the 'Hug Lady'!...Thank god he didn't listen to that retarted part of his brain that often.

"Are you hungry?", She asked, Krad nodded dumbly in response. She smiled and rose from her place on the wood floor with a little grunt of effort. "That's good, we were waiting for you.", She said as she turned on the stove.

"I-I'm sorry.", He stuttered, wringing his hands together in a nervous fashion.

She whirled aound to face him, brandishing her soup ladle as though it were a deadly weapon instead of a harmless kitchen aparatus, "What for?"

"M-Making you wait?", He asked, voice nearly inaudible as he redirected his gaze to the floor. It was because of this action that he was so startled when Emiko put her hand on his shoulder in a friendly-yet-slightly-motherly gesture.

Emiko inwardly winced at the terror she saw in those large golden eyes, What had he had to endure in his past that made him so wary towards the people around him? She felt sorry for this boy, she really did. On impulse she dropped the ladle back into the pot with a soft 'plip' and slowly and carefully extended her arms around his waist and pulled him slightly closer to her; They stayed that way for a while until Dark broke the moment.

"Umm...Mom, I think the pot's gonna boil over, I'd touch it, but I'm not allowed."

"Oh! Shoot!", She said, releasing the dazed blonde and quickly returning her attention to the task on hand.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dinner was rather simple, yet very tasty in Krad's opinion-it was a homemade soup, a recipe that Emiko had thought up when they had first started getting low on money, but no one really needed to know that as it could have easily been sent to a five-star resturaunt and been sold at twenty or more dollars a bowl.

Krad was about to compliment her on it when she brought up something he'd rather she hadn't. Himself.

"So, Krad...Tell us a little bit about yourself.", She asked spontaneously; Out of the blue.

Krad swallowed hard, that was a question he didn't want to answer, but seeing as he was technically her guest he'd have to answer out of respect for his hostess.

He sighed, "Alright, But it's a long story..."

---------------------------------------------

Ck: A cliffie! Yay! I'm proud of this one!

For this Chapter I'd like to thank Neko-Nya and Kyuseisha no Hikari(I spelled it right! yay!) for their uplifting reviews that made me super-happy and able to get rid of Block. This chapter is dedicated to you guys, you rock!(And so do you Haku and Koway.)

Reviewer Replies:

Hakudoshi-chan   
Glad you liked!

Koway Oceshia   
I'm glad you like the humour...I had this all planned to be a nice angst and then this bucket of fluff fell on my head...maybe we'll see some angst this chapter...maybe...I doubt it...Nevermind..I lied, Angst more than definitley next chapter! I promise!

Kyuseisha no Hikari   
'Marvelous writer'? You've killed me again with pride! I guess it's not that bad as I thought.. Cool! That's the first time anyeon's said that to me!I read your reveiw and was like'Kyu makes me happy! I'll write for Kyu' You're welcome, and thanks for the uplifting offer, XD Anything and everything you've writen inspires meXD.

neko-nya   
Aren't we all on the edge of insanity? And yeah...it is kinda eerie, in my town if you're infront of IGA(The grocery-small little thing) for more than ten minutes they come and tell you to leave...All the dumb city people killed our nice country town with their drugs...Oh! And what'd you do to your friend? I wanna know..Please?


	6. An answer

Weihnachten Fotographie

_"A photograph is nothing but a memory frozen in time."_

Chapter 6

_------------------------------------------------_

_Last Time: _He sighed, "Alright, But it's a long story..."

-------------------------------------------------------

"That's alright, we have time, days even.", Emiko placated, taking another spoonful of her five-star-resturaunt quality soup.

Krad sighed, "Fine, fine. I'll tell you.", He had hoped that his reluctance would deter her, unfortunaltley hopes never seem to work properly as it only seemed to send her curiousity on even more of a joy ride.

Another sigh was heard from the blonde, "What I am about to tell you is entirely the truth. Not an ounce of fiction can be squeezed out of it, although I wish sometimes it could...", He trailed off fot a moment to gather his thoughts, grateful and slightly irritated by the silence that ensued.

"I really have no idea where I'm from, and plenty of patches of my memory are...just...not there..."

"For a good part of my younger life I roamed around a bit with what you'd call nowadays a 'gang', but it wasn't like that...more of a...", He was silent for a moment searching for the right word when Dark interjected.

"Band?", He supplied helpfully.

Krad nodded, "Yeah..'band', thanks..", He mumbled before returning to his 'narration'.

"So, we traveled around a bit, in this 'band' we were all theives. Stealing stuff was second nature; Like breathing, but we never stole needlessly or wasted anything, just took what we needed. I guess that doesn't sound as eloquent as I'd like worded that way, but there's really no other way to...And back to the story."

"We travled and we eventually came to a town...", Taking a couple deep breaths to calm himself enough to retell the part that was coming up he began unconciously fiddling with his long blonde hair.

"Well...we ran into some high-up guy, who had all the people adressing him by 'lord' or 'duke', a real stuck-up sort. But, anyways..He claimed to be my father, at first I didn't beleive him, who would!.? I mean, he just came up and went 'You're my son. I thought you died. Rember me?', I had half a mind to curse at him then, but he was able to prove it."

"I still didn't trust him though,", He paused for a moment, watching the expressions on his listeners' faces for a moment before returning to his speech-thing.

"I was right not t-to...t-that night, well, he, uh, t-this isn't easy to say...but, he..."

At this moment he really didn't want to continue, but not seeing any understing on his audience's faces he forced himself into a detached emotionless persona before continuing.

"He raped me.", He said, looking up from playing with his strand of hair at the simoltaneous gasp from both Dark and Emiko.

"Please, let me continue. Don't say anything..."

Nodding silently they kept their mouths shut, witing for him to continue.

"He did it more than once, I don't remember how many times or even my supposed age..."

"A few days later, or maybe it was a month...I can't really tell, my memory's very fuzzy around this point...Well, the band and I ran away from the place...Went to another city...Soon after we had arrived most of them started falling ill; and died soon after...I think I ran...I can't remember that far..."

"And the only memory I have after that is being chased by Dark...Alright, Talk. I know that sounded like a piece of some depraved teenager's 'I-want-your-pity-'cause-my-life-sucks' fiction, but it's not.", He said, attention never leaving his fingers intertwined in his hair resting on his lap, the shadows of the candlelight making odd yet enchanting patterns on them.

Emiko just looked at the blonde for a moment before getting up and bringing her bowl back to the sink, not saying a word. She hadn't known it'd be that bad, and what was with the blank spots in his memory that he claimed to have? She wondered.

"That was intersting!", Dark chirped, purposley-on-accident hitting the blonde with his elbow. Slowly the blonde looked up and Dark nearly winced from the hollowness of the blondes' golden eyes, who simply nodded.

"...I guess..."

-------------------------------------------------

Ck: Wowers, that was fun! Has anyone read a flashback entirley in dialogue before!.? 'Cause that was alotta fun! And yeah, I guess this was semi-angsty. Cookies to anyone who can guess what the blank spots in Krad's memory are!

Reviewer Replies:

**Kyuseisha no Hikari **  
2005-11-16  
Glad you like that!And alongside an excellent chapter, as well! "excellent in nearly every aspect"/Dies again/ With all the time you've killed me with you're nice-ness I'm surprised this still gets upadated!  
**Update quickly:** I guess you can't say that all the good fics never get updated anymore XP

**Respond to your reviewers,** That's a must!  
**Have, so far, the cutest most wonderful plot,** /Dies/ Yet again... I'm glad you like!**  
Are a wonderful writer,** ...More authress death...But, Thank you!  
**Don't seem to have any visible errors in the text **I only have WordPad, no MS word or editor, so to hear that makess me giddy!  
Thsnks for your luck! I hope you'll still be with me for the next chapter!

**Hakudoshi-chan /u/561049/ **  
How's this for 'UPDATE SOON'?

**neko-nya /u/622995/ **

That's funny what you did to your friend! "sweeping krad off his feet"?...I'm afraid I don't understand...

**leon shinosha **

"humor, mystery, and angst!", I liked that line. And I want to finish this one too! That's why everything else is on hold until I finish it!

**Koway Oceshia /u/847477/ **  
You didn't have to wait long! I spoil you guys!


	7. An embrace

Weihnachten Fotographie

_"A photograph is nothing but a memory frozen in time."_

Chapter 7

_

* * *

_

_Last Time: _"That was interesting!", Dark chirped, purposley-on-accident hitting the blonde with his elbow. Slowly the blonde looked up and Dark nearly winced from the hollowness of the blondes' golden eyes, who simply nodded.

"...I guess..."

* * *

After Dark had put his bowl in the sink alongside Emikos' he returned to where the blonde was sitting.

Gently, he put a hand on the blondes' shoulder. "Don't think we don't care, we do. We just don't have anythig to say on the matter; Its the past, it's over-but still there, yet it can't be changed. We learned that long ago.", He whispered in the blondes' ear.

"Hn.", Krad said, nodding solemnly while processing the information that had been presented to him.

Dark couldn't help it, the blonde just looked so small and lost that he instinctivley pulled him into a soft embrace, arms loose so that if Krad wanted to escape he could have. He didn't, he surprised Dark by leaning into it againt the violet-haired teens' black shirt. Emiko had long since retired for the night(Well, until her alarm went off and she had to go work at her night job.) when Dark attempted to pulled away.

But he soon found that it was nearly impossible as Krad had fallen asleep in his arms, he really hadn't noticed-the blonde was rather quiet all the time.

Muttering softly to himself he picked the shorter(And much lighter, he mused) teen in his arms and went off to his bedroom. Once they were inside he gently set the blonde down on the bottom bunk of his bed and covered him with a patched comforter before clamoring up to the top bunk. He rather liked his bed, he thought before turning on his side, sure, it wasn't a namebrand and all-but it had been really one of the only things that he had a say in when he was younger, without any money of his own. Soon, he had drifted off to sleep.

Many hours later the amethyst-eyed teen was awoken by a strange sound, like a whimper. 'Alright, definitley a wimper...Where could it be coming from?'

That was when his mind relayed the events of the day. 'Oh, shit. Krad!', and sure enough when he looked the blonde wore a pained expression on his face, Dark was stuck between wondering what he was dreaming about, or if he should just wake him up or not.

* * *

CK: Sucky chapter, kinda fluffy, and like, another cliffhanger. TT, bleh XP. Anyways, updated for Kyu, and I'll not update this weekend. Gonna see the HP Movie, I might update tomorrow, or even later tonight, but not after. Not until my HP fangirlness leaves, Sorry to do that all to you! Hey...Listen to the Country song 'I beleive' by Diamond Rio-That's a song that really hits me deep, I always listen to it at my cat's grave. Sorry to get morose on you XD. Anyways, Also, Listen to the country song 'Love, Me' By Raye Collins-IT's EXACTLY the way my gran'ma and gran'pa met...Oh! I'm getting another cat tomorrow! I'll put up a link to my current cat on my bio...XD 

Reviewer Replies:

**Daishi**

New reviewer! YAY! How's this for soon? Yeah, I'm cocky now...XD...Review again please!

**leon shinosha**

I'm glad you liked Krad's tale, I thought that maybe that since it was all dialect that you'd dislike it. I'm gonna email you againXD. And yeah, ypu're line was great! XP

**Koway Oceshia**

I'm handing out more cany to my reviewers XD. You might just get to kill him...I haven't decided if he's still alive or what XP. You keep reviewing, I keep spoiling XD.

**neko-nya**

I see...I can see why your Foods teacheer might be upset. Still, thanks for your review!

**Kyuseisha no Hikari**

You've killed me again with 'literature'. And the fact that Krad's been raped is a twist? I thought it was part of the basic formula for DarkKrad fics.(Krad gets raped, Dark learns, they have sex. All better-NOT GONNA HAPPEN THOUGH!...XD) And, alright...I'll not update on the weekend anyways because my parents'll be home and they read over my shoulder and they don't like shonen-ai, and dunno that I do or even that I write it XP. Very Glad you'll stay with me yill the end!

**Hakudoshi-chan**

Yeah, sorry about that XD, well, not really...it'll play a BIG part later on.

**I CANT BELEIVE NO ONE GUESSED WHAT THE BLANK SPOTS WERE! ...Sigh. Ah, you'll find out.**


	8. An explanation

Weihnachten Fotographie

_"A photograph is nothing but a memory frozen in time."_

Chapter 8

* * *

_Last Time: _That was when his mind relayed the events of the day. 'Oh, shit. Krad!', and sure enough when he looked the blonde wore a pained expression on his face, Dark was stuck between wondering what he was dreaming about, or if he should just wake him up or not.

* * *

Luckily for the idiot he was saved from making any decicions that would tax his brain and more-than-likely wound him for life by Emiko, who had just walked by the door on her way to the bathroom. It turned out that her alarm had gone off and she had walked past when Dark climed out of bed, and at the sound wanted to know what was going on, you can imagine the look on her face at her son's distress over the pain of some guys' face that he had just met that day...Well, the other day...it was somewhere around three in the morning. 

"Dark, what's wrong?", She asked, holder her battery-powered-candle-that-you-see-in-the-windows-of-houses-at-christmas-time up higher to get a better look into the situation of the extrodinarilly _messy_ room.

Dark looked at her, frantic. "I have no idea what to do! I think he's hurt somewhere or something!"

Emiko chuckled slightly, "Dark, you should wake him up. It's just a nightmare."

"Night...mare?", He reiterated, baffled.

"Like, a scary dream. You had them too, when you were a child...Usually about a giant rabbit eating your head, or about our house catching on fire."

Dark nodded, he understood-he could just be so dense sometimes; Especially at somewhere around three o'clock in the morining.

"'Kay, I'll wake him.", He said, as he gently shook the blonde awake. Emiko smiled for a moment, before heading off to the bathroom for a shower, she still had work to get to. Dark could handle this on his own, or so she thought.

* * *

Ck: I was gonna add more to it, but I've fallen in love with cliffhangers! XP. Yeah, all previous 7 chapters happened in the course of ONE DAY! XD. Chap, 7,8,and9 Were written on the same day!(Yesterday, 11-17-05) And today we had a Spanish trip...I fell asleep ten times XD 

Reviewer Replies:

**Daishi  
**Close...sorta...XD  
Yeah, I guess you could say that!

**Hakudoshi-chan  
**...Yeah... Thanks for the review!

**neko-nya**  
Yeah...it has been interesting XD. I wonder too...I don't think we find out until chapter two or so.(Yeah, I'm writing the story and I don't even know what's gonna happen TT )Really glad you like, and I will!

**Kyuseisha no Hikari  
**I'm glad you did, and you're welcome again! It's okay...You don't have to guess. Yeah, they do, and no one'll mind.(I personally beleive that it makes them want to read it even more)I hope this was worth the wait, and you made me super-happy this morning when I read the 'totally worth fawning over' pert this morning.So do I, Although I know I'll be on my neopets guild first thing saturday morning dissing what the director left out of the script that was in the book, and I hope you get to see it XD.

**IceKitty  
**I will. Thank you for you're review! The fishies aren't gonna see it...poor fishies. Glad you liked the chapter and I will update as soon as I can! XD.

**steve ( sam's boyfriend )  
**Glad you liked. Review again!

**leon shinosha  
**Yeah, it is too predictable. Yup! Unfortunatley...eh doesn't know how much XP 'Kay, I'll try to be more descriptive...in chapter 10, seeing as I wrote #8 And #9 right after #7. I liked your long review XD Mmm...Coolers! You're seeing it too!

**Koway Oceshia  
**Hmmm-mmm, I wrote chappies already for the weekend XD, so, you get an update!


	9. A suggestion

Weihnachten Fotographie

_"A photograph is nothing but a memory frozen in time."_

Chapter 9

* * *

_Last Time: _"'Kay, I'll wake him.", He said, as he gently shook the blonde awake. Emiko smiled for a moment, before heading off to the bathroom for a shower, she still had work to get to. Dark could handle this on his own, or so she thought.

* * *

Krad sat up slowly, long blonde hair that had come untied during his thrashing about cascading down his petite frame, muttering something incoherently under his breath. He didn't even acknowledge Darks' presence until the violet-haired teen spoke, startling the golden-eyed blonde. 

"You alright?", Dark asked, plopping down on the bed next to him.

"Who?", Krad muttered staring blankly at Dark for a moment before blinking a couple times and recognising him. "Oh! Sorry!...Uh, What just happened?", He asked, genuinley confused as to the reason why Dark and himself were on the bed.

"You don't remeber?", Dark asked incredulousley, he knew the blondes memory wasn't exactly up to par, but he never imagined it to be _this_ bad. Krad nodded, stray locks of hair falling in his face, shadowing his eyes.

Dark sighed, "You were having a nightmare, and so I woke you up."

Krad nodded, "...Ah...That explains why I'm on this bed; Which I'll presume is owned by you?"

"Yeah...Geesh, you talk so formal. Makes me feel odd...", Dark half-heartedly whined.

"...I'm sorry, didn't mean to iconvience you..."

"There you go again...Anyways, you're Okay now, right?"

"Yeah..."

Dark smiled, "Alright then! Get a few more hours of sleep, If I'm up before you I'll wake you when breakfast is ready.", He said as he clamboured back up the frame to the top bunk.

"...'Kay...'Night...", Krad replied, voice muffled in by the pillow, already half asleep. Inwardly, Dark cheered.

* * *

CK: That was fluffy XD. No more angst at the moment! ...More than likely in the next chappies! Hmmm...Y'know why Dark's happy-'Cause for a moment Krad wasn't mister fancy-speech. XP. 

Reviewer Replies:

**Daishi**  
Utada Hikaru has a great voice XD

**Koway Oceshia**  
...Not really XD.You're welcome for the chappie.

**leon Shinosha:**  
They do, I did...Keep reviewing XD

**neko-nya**  
I wonder too...I lost $50 once...

**Hakudoshi-chan**  
Yeah, and sorry for the shortness.


	10. Prelude to an Excursion

Weihnachten Fotographie

_"A photograph is nothing but a memory frozen in time."_

Chapter 10

-----------------------------------------

_Last Time:_"...'Kay...'Night...", Krad replied, voice muffled in by the pillow, already half asleep. Inwardly, Dark cheered.

-------------------------------------------------

Morning came far too quickly in Darks' mind...Actually, it always came to early for him-especially when he had school that day, for once he was actually glad that the holidays were her, for the sole reason of holiday break.

And so, he jumped out of bed to find the blonde who he'd supposed was already up and about,(And if he was the kleptomaniac that he claimed to be they might be missing a few spoon.)

That suspicion was quickly squashed when he tripped over said blonde, who had -presumabley- fallen out of the bed, but didn't seem to have realized it at all.

Dark took the liberty of shaking said blonde awake, and if he was questioned about it he would simply use the one Emiko had said to him on one too many a occasion.

Krad was...dissorientated, for lack of a better word, when he first woke up, his mind vaguely registered Dark's form shaking him awake. "Mmm...Dark, mind letting me keep my brains in my head?", He highly doubted that his sleep-ridden sentence held any intellegence at all; But who expected him to make intellegent conversation at...11:59? Wait, 11:5-Ooops, 12:00 in the afternoon? No wonder the amethyst-eyed boy was shaking him like he'd died and would never come back.

"Sorry, Didn't mean to sleep that late. Did I bore you?"

Dark shook his head, "No, I just got up myself. Well seeing as It's noontime now, how 'bout I make lunch?"

Krad raised an eyebrow skeptically at this, he highly doubted that Dark could make something editable-He didn't know why he thought this, probably just his gut instinct telling him so, but he nodded in compliance anyways.

They entered the kitchen, Krad minutes behind the violet-haired teen, only to see him cursing at the table. A rather comical sight when you have no idea what is going on.

"Look at this! Look at this!", Dark yelled, waving a note in front of the golden-eyed boys' face. Krad smirked and took it from him, bemused as he read it.

'_Dark._

_Out of the Kitchen._

_Now._

_I can't afford any more fire fines,_

_Take Krad and go out for the day,_

_There's money in the drawer._

_-Your mom_

_--Emiko'_

"It's like she's psychic or something! How the heck could she know to leave that thing on the only day I plan to use the kitchen! I mean, God! Can't she at least give me a second chance?", Dark's rant had gone undisturbed and unoticed until Krad tapped him on the shoulder.

"It says here that there's money in the drawer...I'm guessing you could use that for lunch. It doesn't seem like she wants in the house...I guess we should heed her advice and go."

Dark looked up from his rant, bewildered. He had forgotten that Krad was in the room for a moment. "'Kay!", He chirped, retreived what little money his mom could provide them and added it to his own, and they were off.

------------------

Ck:Damn it! Dentist appointment tomorrow! Sorry, due to the new rules and my piss-offedness at having my account suspended no more reviewer replies. If you have an email those of you that don't have accounts I highly urge you to leave it so I can reply to your reviews. Those of you that logged in, you already know if you checked your inbox.


	11. An Excursion

Weihnachten Fotographie

_"A photograph is nothing but a memory frozen in time."_

Chapter 10

-----------------------------------------

_Last Time: _"'Kay!", He chirped, retreived what little money his mom could provide them and added it to his own, and they were off.

-------------------------------------------------

The plaza was even busier than the other day; Of course it would be, with only two more shopping days until Christmas.

Cursing his mother under his breath Dark pulled an overwhelmed blonde towards the eater; Knocking over quite a few innocent passer-by in the process.

"D-Dark,...Shouldn't we apologize to them?", Krad asked, regarding the group of people who had been knocked down as they had been crowded around the door to the eatery.

"No, They should have been arrested for loitering.", Dark snapped, settling down in a remote booth in the back of the room.

"I take it you highly dislike the holidays?", Krad said, bemused smile on his face as he took the seat parrallel to the amethyst-eyed teen.

Dark gaped at the blonde a moment, that had been the first smile he'd seen from the blonde so far-He'd have to get him to do it more often, before regaining his composure, "Damn straight I don't!"

"Why?", The bloonde asked, a raised eyebrow now accompianing the bemused smile.

Dark blanched at this, this was the first time that anyone had asked him why he hated this _jovial_ season so. Luckily he was spared answering this as their server arrived.

"Hi, I'm...you're server today, are you already to order?", She asked pen and paper at the ready.

Now it was Darks' turn to raise an eyebrow in skepticism, 'How could they be ready to order if she hadn't given them their menus?' Luckily, the unknowing server was spared a tongue-lashing from the violet-haired teen when Krad suddenly burst into the conversation. "Umm...Miss, we haven't any menus. So, how can you expect us to be ready to order?", He asked, quite calmly and 'cutely' in the waitress's mind, which caused her to blush and stutter like mad.

"O-Oh! I-I'm s-sorry s-s-sirs...", She stuttered, and then went off on her merry way to retrieve them.

------------------------------------------------------------------

And that was how their day went, Dark generally being grumpy and not-so-cooperative towards the holiday life and Krad having to apolgize for the taller teen.

At the end of the day the blonde quietly wondered if that would be the routine for the next few days until Christmas. He wixhed not.

------------------------------------------

CK: This chapter was SUPPOSED to be long, But(Oh, crap, more buts) I lost inspiration, and was also working on MAI, which can be found under my name( Chrnoskitty, for those of you that don't know) at Check it out after you review-It's the reason this was SUUUUUUPER delayed. Gomen Nasii! Oh! And I got another Kitten, Her name's Holle(Holly) and shes a pain in the back...


	12. An Evening

Weihnachten Fotographie

_"A photograph is nothing but a memory frozen in time."_

Chapter 12

* * *

_Last Time: _At the end of the day the blonde quietly wondered if that would be the routine for the next few days until Christmas. He wished not.

* * *

The next day passed rather uneventfully, And the day of Christmas Eve was upon them rather fast. Dark left the house some time in the afternoon only to return a couple hours later trying to hide something in his coat, and suceeding rather well as those who he didn't want to see it were serenley passed out on the couch.

The eve passed quietly, and slowly according to the purple-haired teen. Krad couldn't say, he had never really payed it too much mind, other than the fact that the crowds made it far easier to stick a hand in the array of items and quickly retrieve one.

"Mom, are you off tomorrow?", Dark asked, the bruenette smiled.

"Of course I am, Krad, are you staying?", She asked, turning to the blonde, who looked quizzical for a moment before responding.

"Do you want me to stay?", He asked; If she didn't he would be all to glad to leave-he felt rather awkward in their homestead even though he had grown to rather enjoy Darks', and Emiko's though she was rarely around, presence. Kind of like a warm insurrence in the back of his mind.

Emiko didn't even need to think to answer this one, "Of Course!", She said rather energetically/practically yelled, Dark just nodded rather vigoureslly, as his mouth was full of food. It was a wonder that he didn't choke with the rate his head was bobbing up and down.

"I guess I'll stay, then.", He replied, half-heartedly returning to his own food.

The rest of the night went by quietly, but the next day wouldn't be so blissfully quiet, as the holiday would finally be upon them.

* * *

Ck: next chapter is the last, it'll be entitled 'A Photograph.' Thank you for sticking with me, pardon any mistakes in the last 5 lines as I have a chemical burn on my hand. And the place to go to is Fictionpress(Dot)com from the other chappie. 


	13. A photograph

Weihnachten Fotographie

_"A photograph is nothing but a memory frozen in time."_

Chapter 13

-----------------------------------------

_Last Time: _The rest of the night went by quietly, but the next day wouldn't be so blissfully quiet, as the holiday would finally be upon them.

-------------------------------------------------

The morning came surprisingly loud to the blonde. One moment he was sitting by the lake-and the next some little buggart was jumping up and down on him. Sure, right before he had retired to the room that he had taken to calling his own(Even though he shared it with Dark), Emiko had debriefed him on the more rambuncious members of the Niwa bloodline.

Still, he hadn't expected it to be _this _rambuncious, especially first thing in the morning--Well, may not first thing, as a quick glance to the clock to the side of the bed told him otherwise.

"Tobi! Get the heck out of there! I don't think Krad will appreciate you waki--", Emiko had started chastising the young Niwa relative for disturbing the blondes' slumber when she realized that said blonde was already awake and glaring at the young one. Not quite a good first impression in Emiko's opinion. Then again, Dark had first encountered Krad when he had stolen from the baker, maybe Krad was as forgiving as her son. Emiko only hoped.

"Well, I see that you're awake. Everyone's downstairs if you care to join us.", The wheat-haired woman said as she led the little boy back to the festivities of the holidays.

Krad growled softly in his throat after the two had made their retreat. He really, really disliked little kids, for some reason that was beyond even his comprehension.

Grumbling slighty to himself about how if all of the Niwa relatives were as little, or younger, than that buggart-Tobi, was it, he'd probably feel really awkward in the room. Scratch that, he'd feel awkward even if it were a bunch of senile old crones with Alzheimers who couldn't distinguish a pickle from a human. They just weren't his actual family, and that made it feel like he was intruding, he already felt that way and all he had done was stand up and remove his shirt to don a newer, cleaner, one. But, he had already crossed the Rubicon when he made the decision the other night to stay. He couldn't turn back now.

Lucridly, he picked up a comb that had been sitting on the nightstand right next to the clock relaying the time, somewhere past nine in the morning. Not bad if you considered his past track record with sleeping 'til noontide on his first night, he was getting better at waking up earlier, even if most of the times he was woken by some outside force rather than his will to reunite with the waking world.

With a pre-conceived idea of how the situation would turn out he cautiously tried out the comb on his hair. Many curses and a few comb teeth later the blonde had his hair relativley presentable, no longer all messed from sleep. Wondering lazilly where his brush was, he had always carried one with him--he was quite sure of that, he put the comb back and tied up his hair in the familliar high pony tail and then left the room, hoping he was ready to face Dark's family.

---

Krad had been told by Emiko that their family was pretty big, which to him translated to around eight to ten people. What he had not been expecting was thirty seven people, not including himself, Dark, and Emiko crowded around the lower area of the apartment-Which was really just the kitchen and living room.

He suddenly felt very clausterphobic, as the walls seemed to be closing in closer and closer on him, but he resisted the urge to throw a faint as he had done in previous situations. Then again, those times he had been alone and considerably younger, and at the moment he had all the eyes of the company on him, staring at him as though he were some outlander from another planet, only two, besides Emiko and Dark, weren't phazed in the least by his presence.

Krad wasn't surprised at the people gawking at him, he had to be at least the second shortest person in the world well, the room, but as far as the blonde was concerned the room at the moment _was_ the world to him. Not to mention his hair colour was rather odd compared to the various shades of brown and reds in the room (And a couple were even purplish), there were only two people among the group who had 'unatural' hair for Niwas, one's was a bright silvery-gray, the other, a light cerulean blue.

"Ermm...Hi?", He asked, golden eyes being met with basically a whole room of defiant amber-eyed Niwas. _Yeesh, didn't these guys think of how creepy they'd look if they all basically looked the same when they were floating around in the gene pool? Obviously not._, The blonde mused as he looked at the 'drones', as his mind had so readily supplied him with a word to describe their un-unique-ness. On second thought, perhaps 'clones' would have been more accurate.

"Hello!", A couple of the little ones replied eagerly, not caring about the contemptous glares from their parents for 'fraternising with the enemy'...Or just talking to a stranger. Krad just forced a smile, he really did not like the little ones.

"Hi.", Said the icy cerulean-haired boy, while his red-headed 'partner in crime' replied rather bouncily, "Hi!Hi!Hi!", His arms flailing about for an added affect.

"...Hi...", Krad said, a bit weirded out by the hyper compulsive disordee red-headed boy and his icy blue-haired friend. Seriously, that kid was equated to ice in everything, his tone, his voice, his eyes, even his mannerisms were frigidly cool.

"Naaa...Creepy boy, Daisuke, stop scaring the poor guy. He's only been here a few days.", Dark had mysteriously appeared on the blonde's right, unnoticed until he spoke up.

The red-headed one was incredulous, "Daaaaaaark! A _few_ days? Do you even know who he is?"

Dark grinned, amethyst eyes flashing with some emotion unrecognisable to the blonde. "Of course I know who he is!You act like I'm stupid Daisuke, he's a great friend and soon-to-be apartment mate!"

Luckily, the blonde did not hear that last part,He'd only heard up to the point that identified the red-headed boy as Daisuke, as he had been too busy learning the silver-haired girls' name. Towa, Towa Shirube-She had intermarried into the Niwa family but had refused to take their surname. Her husband hadn't cared too much, as he wasn't marrying for children, as Towa couldn't have any, but out of his love for his wife.

Krad thought it was an interesting tale, but it seemed a little familiar to him...Where had he heard it before? Oh! That was right! He'd heard it before from every other married women, which had been two-Freedert and Mio, that he'd come aross in the periods of his life that he could remember.

Towa had gone back off to the kitchen to help Emiko, and a few other women, finish the preparations for dinner while catching up on the latest gossip.

--

Hours passed, and the blonde had been introduced to most of the family by an over zealous Dark when dinner time had come around.

The table was lavishly decorated with a faded white lace table cloth and a menangerie off foods sprawled across it. After a few relatives had heaped food on their plates and returned to the living room area Krad finally realized that they weren't going to eat in the kitchen.

--

Dinner was a rather warm occasion. People made small talk about the grades their kids were getting, the new movies that were coming out, what they hoped they revieved from others the most and more as they shoveled food into their mouths.

Even though Krad ate relativley slow, he was still done before the rest of the group as he had no circle of conversation to distract him; Not that he would have talked much even if he did. It was then that he saw Towa and Dark making their way towards him.

"Hey, Krad. We need a break from in here, Goin' outside, wanna come?", The emerald eyed woman asked as they headed for the exit. Krad nodded and followed suit, neatly depositing his paper plate in the bin as they passed.

--

"I really, really hate this...Our apartment is too small.", Dark said, breath coming out in little puffs of white.

"Yeah, but your mom's doing everything she can. Y'know that ever since the divorce things have been tight on you guys.", Towa replied, sparkling emerald eyes contemplative as she recalled those days from long ago.

"Divorce?", Krad asked before he could stop himself, it wasn't really his place to ask. Family matters should be kept with the family, not relayed to outsiders such as himself.

Dark ignored the question, defiantly glaring at the road. "Ahh...Yeah, Emiko and Kousuke got divorced a while back.", said Towa, earning a glare and a half from Dark.

"Divorced? He freaking left us! No goodbyes or nothing! Then just returned out of the blue and says , "I want a divorce.", The idiot!", Dark practically yelled, incredulous.

Krad raised an eyebrow and looked at Dark's aunt, "Does he always act like this?", He whispered, watching with some half-formed interest as the violet-haired teen went off on a tangent about his father.

"Only around this time. He's actually here...", Towa trailed off fowling the blonde's line of sight and stifling a laugh.

"Oh...", Krad murmered, _That must be hard on Dark. I wonder which one's Kousuke?_, he briefly wondered, casting a glance to the window with Dark's thirty-six other relatives talking and some even getting drunk, as the pink flush on their cheeks indicated.

"Yeah... Kouskuke left Emiko a couple days before Christmas, and then showed up a year later and asked for a divorce, and custody of their youngest child--"

"--Daisuke.", Dark grunted, glaring at the snow. If looks could burn, there'd of been a hole all the way through the center of the Earth down to China.

"Yes, Yes. Daisuke. He got both without too much of a fight."

"Oh...I see. I guess that's the reason why he wouldn't tell me why he hated this holiday so much. But I guess it's because you so abruptly went from a family to something's missing at this time...I-I'm sorry."

"What for?", Dark asked.

"T-That your family got broken up around Christmas."

"Don't be, it's past. Can't change it, so why think on it? Ooooh! C'mon! Let's go inside,Presents!", Dark practically yelled as he took Towa and Krad by the arms and dragged them inside, without earning any protests as they had all begun getting cold standing out there doing nothing besides talking.

--

Krad watched the present exchange in disinterest, and fell asleep leaning on the armrest of the chair somewhere around the middle of it, at about eleven in the evening. The next thing that his mind registered was Emiko gently shaking him awake somewhere around three in the morning, and seeing the last stragglers of the extensive Niwa family going through the door.

"Wake up sleepy head... You've got a present to unwrap...", She crooned softly.

"Nnn...Wha?...Presen'?"

"Well...Actually _two_ presents, but one of 'em wasn't wrappable.", Dark chimed in. "So, wake up already!"

"Okay, Okay...I'm up...What do you want?", Krad asked Emiko, who hadn't stop shaking him the entire time and his brains were starting to turn into jell-o.

"Here.", Dark said as he thrust a small wrapped package at the still slightly disorientated blonde.

"And this is for...?"

"Read the tag."

"...Me?"

Dark nodded vigouresly, "Yup! Open it."

Krad did so. "A...Camera?"

"Ehh...I had no idea what to get you so I just thought--"

"It's great. Thanks." Dark blushed slightly at that.

"You're welcome."

"And Krad, I have a sort of goft for you too.", Emiko said, holding out a paper to him.

Krad took it and scanned it. Confusion immediatley engulfed his features, "Y-You want me to live with you?"

She nodded, "Yes, we do. So, if you'll just sign the tenant list I can make it official once I give it back to the landlord, so what do you say?"

"I-I don't know what to say."

"Say yes, and sign the paper.", She said, smiling as she put a pen in his right hand. Almost immediatley he switched it to the left.

Laughing lightly to himself he signed it neatly, the only indication that he was left-handed was a gentle rightward slant to his signature. "T-Thank you. You guys have been so kind.", He said as he handed the paper and pen back to Emiko.

"You're welcome.", She said as she left the apartment to show the new tenant list to the landlord.

--

Many hours later she returned to the sight of the two boys sprawled out on the floor, asleep. Krad's head was on Dark's lap, and the amethyst-eyed teens' arm was wrapped protectivley around the blonde.

Smiling deviously to herself Emiko picked up the camera. "I've frozen this moment in time.", She said softly as the flash went off, unoticed by the other two occupants of the room.

---------------------------------------------------------

Ck: The End. Thank you for sticking with me. Do you all understand the quote at the top of the page now? This is LONG, it took me nearly six pages. There will be a sequel, this was "Christmas Photograph", there will be one called "New Years Photograph"...I hope. Have a safe holiday, if you're drinking designate a driver, and most of all--HAVE FUN!


End file.
